San Antonio - Trinity senior cross country and track & field runner Andy Cottrell has been selected as the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Character and Community Men's Student-Athlete of the Week.

The conference honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics and serve their campus and community. Cottrell, a resident of New Braunfels, Texas, fits the bill in all categories.

He has volunteered since September 2017 as a "reading buddy" with San Antonio Youth Literacy. Cottrell is paired with second-graders at Booker T. Washington Elementary School in the San Antonio Independent School District. He meets with the students for an hour a week and works to improve their reading skills. An important aspect of the sessions is to make the process of reading more enjoyable.

Cottrell said it is an "awesome experience….which allows him to establish long-term relationships with the kids and helps them be better prepared for the future."

Cottrell is a biology major and is on schedule to earn his degree from Trinity this May. His chosen academic field played an important part on a mission trip to Honduras with St. John's Episcopal, which involved vision testing and animal vaccinations.

He has trained as a medical scribe and documented doctor-patient interactions with accurate medical terminology. Cottrell also shadowed a physician for over 100 hours to gain insight into family practice medicine.

Cottrell was named a Trinity Murchison Scholar in 2015, one of the most prestigious accolades at the University. He also has qualified for the SCAC Academic Honor Roll, and this spring, Cottrell is a peer tutor for Trinity students in vertebrate physiology.

A talented distance runner, Cottrell earned All-SCAC Cross Country honors in 2016 with a ninth-place finish at the conference championships, as well as during the 2017 track & field championships for his third-place finish in the 10,000 meters event. Trinity's cross country coaches designated him as the 2016 Tiger of the Year and nominated him to the SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team.